Merman's Love
by Nozomi Higurashi
Summary: A/U Yaoi. Atlantis is under attack from the Seawitch Anzu, and only the Oracle can stop her. Can he discover his powers before it's too late?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh or any Yugioh Characters. I do not make ANY money off this fanfic. I do own all OCs and the plot. Plot inspired by Shamise's fanfic "Binding Circles" on AFF

-YGO-

Yugi sighed, gazing at the ocean. He couldn't believe his rotten luck. His loving Grandpa had passed away the year before, leaving the teen heartbroken and now truly alone in the world. To add insult to injury, the foster home he had been placed in was was by a family of homophobes. Yugi dared not let ANYONE know he was gay, for fear of the news reaching his foster "parents" ears. Best case scenerio would be Yugi would have to scrape a living off the streets. Worst case, he'd find a new home at the bottom of the ocean, and NOT in the way he wanted it. (A/N: Yeah, THAT bad. Wait till you see his foster "brother".)

Sighing from his depression, Yugi dove into the ocean's welcoming waters once more. He felt more at home in the ocean than on land, perhaps because he HAD no home on land. Sure he had a house to live in, but does anyone consider a prison "home"? He could wait for the next two years to pass so he could escape his living Hell.

The need for air grew too great once again and the petite 16-year-old teen quickly surfaced, gasping for air as he tread water. A blond kid from his school passed by just then and called out to him. Yugi ignored him and dove under the water's surface again. The blond shrugged. "Must not'a heard me," he said with a Brooklyn accent as walked off.

Yugi stayed underwater as much as possible until night began to fall. He clambered onto a large moss-covered rock and lay on his back as he watched the stars appear, panting for breath. He swept his blond bangs out of his eyes, dreading the need to return "home" for dinner. From the looks of the night sky, he was already very late and was going to be left with nothing but scraps again. 'Why couldn't those morons ever make enough for leftovers?' Yugi thought angrily, a scowl marring his once-cherubic face. He had been less and less cheerful as the year snailed along, finding it difficult to see the "bright side" when there was none. Yugi growled and rolled onto his side, ignoring his stomach's own growl of protest.

"Selfish pigs!" Yugi roared to no one in particular. He heard a faint gasp and a splash. Fearing he had startled someone into the water with his sudden outburst, Yugi dove into the dark waters without thinking the dangers such an action presented to himself and began to blindly search for the person.

Crimson eyes stared at the boy in confusion. The teen, who looked remarkably like the owner of the crimson eyes, hadn't shouted "Who's there?" like any other human would do. Instead, he had dove straight into the water with no regards to his own safety and began searching frantically. The crimson eyes widened as he realized the human's expression was full of worry. The boy was looking for what he thought was another human in danger!

The crimson-eyes sea creature slowly swam up to Yugi, the boy's eyes widening in shock. He opened his mouth reflexively to gasp and water flooded his lungs. The creature's powerful fish-like crimson tail propelled him through the water, his strong tanned arm bringing the human to his solid chest as the merman swiftly surfaced to save the drowning human.

The merman got him to a nearby beach and used his water magic to clear the teen's airways. Yugi gasped in a breath of fresh air and the merman smiled in relief. Amethyst eyes opened and saw that his drowning vision was real. The teen blushed and open his mouth to thank the merman when the sea creature spotted something off in the distance and quickly darted under the breakers.

A huge shadow fell over Yugi, and he cringed. Great. His foster "parents" had sent their son Ushio to find him.


	2. Chapter 2

Yugi shrunk as low to the ground as he could. Ushio's leering grin was even more frightening (not to mention creepy) in the light of only the moon and stars. Fearing the worst from the tyrannical teen, Yugi dove back into the relative safety of the ocean, hoping the merman was still around to help him hide. Ushio growled. He HATED the ocean. The tyrant wasn't one to give up his favorite punching bag so easily and he dove in after Yugi, swimming surprisingly fast despite his massive bulk. He was soon on Yugi's heels, the panicked teen in desperate need of air, but not daring to take the time to surface. Suddenly warm hands wrapped around him as the merman shot past, whipping the frightened teen away from Ushio so fast, he lost most of the breath he had left. The merman pushed the spluttering and gasping Yugi onto a rock and turned to somewhere behind the boy.

"Jono! I think it's time you returned home and dealt with this cretin in our own waters!" the merman shouted in a baritone voice. A familiar voice answered, Yugi gasping at the fact that it no longer held a Brooklyn accent among other things.

"I know, I know, keep your tail on Atemu! Sheesh! It ain't so easy getting out of wet clothes you know, and I can't change back with them on, dammit!" Finally stripped of his human attire, the blond teen dove stark-naked into the water, causing Yugi's eyes to nearly bulge out of his head. 'What in seven hells is going on here?' he thought in shocked surprise. Jou surfaced, a black dorsal fin now sticking out of his back.

"Hurry, before that demon gets away!" Atemu shouted, and Jou huffed, diving back under the waves, a black shark's tail now replacing his human legs. Yugi was now swearing he must be in a fantasy induced by a lack of oxygen and he was still drowning from the near-miss earlier. An unearthly scream rent the air as Jou - no Jono - attacked Yugi's attacker with a shark-tooth spear that had somewhere appeared out of nowhere. Yugi watched in horror as the creature he had thought to be nothing more that a tyrant screeched as it transformed into a Kappa and died.

"Another of the Seawitch Anzu's minions down," Jono said triumphantly. Atemu, however looked worried.

"How was he found? Wasn't the old Sea Sage Suguruko supposed to be protecting him?" the merman demanded, eyes flashing in anger. The sharkman gulped, lowering himself into the water until everything from his eyes below was hidden.

"Jii-san... died last year. No one could explain how or why," Yugi said quietly, finally deciding that if this dream would not relent, he'd try to take control. Atemu swore and Yugi cringed. The merman was super scary when angry.

"Dammit! That sea urchin! Now how are we supposed to protect the Orcale?" Atemu spat. Yugi had enough.

"Okay, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU ALL GOING ON ABOUT! What is this all about, who are you people, and where has all sense of logic gone?" Yugi bellowed, causing Atemu to jump and Jono to dart under the water, not wanting to face the Orcale's wrath. Atemu simply placed his head on Yugi's forehead and memories long forgotten began to surface.

FLASHBACK

Yugi was playing in a playground with Jono and a merman looking similiar to Atemu, only with pale skin like the other two. The teen realized that this playground was underwater and that he was swimming, not with legs, but with a powerful tail.

END FLASHBACK

The memory Yugi had just remembered was so startling, he had jolted out of it before remembering anything. However, he did know something very important from that vision: He was originally a merman and something had happened that made the others feel it was safer for Yugi to live on land. Until now...


	3. Chapter 3

Atemu looked upon Yugi in concern. The fact that Suguruko had died mysteriously was very troublesome to the handsome merman. Suguruko had only been slightly over 500 years old, not even over the hill for a Sea Sage. That old man appearance was one caused by a spell Suguruko cast upon himself that would not disappear upon death, allowing him to lull any enemies of Atlantis into a false sense of security and strike them down swiftly and efficiently. For such an experienced and skilled magician to go down without causing a ripple in the balance of power meant the sage must have foreseen his demise somehow and sealed his powers away before the Seawitch's minions could steal them.

"Jono!" Atemu called. The sharkman popped out of the water next to him. "Help me dry off my tail. I'll help you as well. We must find what Suguruko sealed his powers away in before its too late. The Seawitch may already know that her plans to kill the Oracle were foiled again."

"Oracle! Oracle! My name is -" the two mermen looked at Yugi, terrified, "Yugi," he spat, rather anticlimatically.

Jono breathed a sigh of relief. "He doesn't remember his real name, thank Poseidon for that."

Yugi looked at the two, continuing to become increasingly frustrated at the two. "I don't like being kept in the dark!' he growled, not caring if this was a dream anymore. Hell, it was to WEIRD to be a dream anymore, and he should have drowned long ago at this rate. Jono sighed.

"Trust me, I don't like keeping you there either, but the moment it's safe to explain everything, I promise you, I will. Now where's this puzzle you told me your Grandpa gave you for the last birthday you spent together?" the sharkman asked, earning a surprised look from Atemu.

"Puzzle? You don't mean -?"

"Don't know, but we have to get all of Yugi's important possessions, just in case. Then we need to find somewhere safe for him to stay until we find a way to break Suguruko's spell and allow him to live in Atlantis once again. I TOLD you it was a mistake to let him live on land and wipe his -!"

"ENOUGH! This isn't the time for that Jono. Now hurry up, we're wasting precious time!"

Two hours later, Yugi's treasure box with his puzzle was inside a strange clear bag along with a few other prized possessions. The two mermen, currently in human form were ushering Yugi back to the ocean, fearfully looking for any signs of danger. Suddenly, the three saw flashlights waving in their direction, and Atemu and Jono picked up Yugi by the elbows, Atemu awkwardly running on his human-like legs, not used to being bipedel. Somehow, they managed to reach the ocean and dove in, Atemu and Jono transforming back into merman, they dove underwater with Yugi close behind, the teen deciding that he's rather live in insanity than constant fear.

The insanity was only beginning. Yugi gasped in surprise when he saw his legs had transformed into an elegant amethyst tail upon entering the water.


	4. Chapter 4

Yugi stared at his tail, his wide amethyst eyes growing wider. He turned and twirled in the water, trying to get a better look at it. Finally, Jono swam up and pinched him on the forearm.

"YOW!" Yugi yelped, glaring at the sharkman. Jono just smiled gently.

"Finally satisfied that this is reality?" he said calmly. Yugi nodded mutely, too stunned to speak as the realization finally set in. Jou grabbed his arm and pulled Yugi up to him so he could help the inexperienced merman get used to using his tail to swim again. "Then let's make tracks?"

"Excuse me? 'Make tracks?' Exactly what tracks do you propose we make, Jono?" Atemu scoffed. The sharkman smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry, pal. Bit of human lingo I picked up. It's catchy, you gotta admit." Atemu just rolled his eyes.

"Let's get going before this area is swarming with Kappas, if we're lucky," the crimson-eyed merman snarled, not having the night on patrol go as he had hoped. Jono shrugged and grabbed Yugi's waist with one arm, holding Yugi's arm over his shoulders with the other. The position normally awkward for humans to support each other was surprisingly easy to pull off as a merman, and Yugi soon got the hang of swimming with a tail and kept darting ahead of the other two, laughing for the first time in ages.

"He's much cuter when he smiles," Atemu said, not able to help the grin on his face.

"Yeah, wonder if he'll know it you who used to play with us when we were little. You've gotten awfully tan," Jono noted. Atemu shrugged.

"I was off in the tropics checking on your sister, Shizuka, for awhile. She had a slight problem with her harvest that turned out to be the Seawitch's doing. Put a huge dent in our crops for 3 harvests, we only just caught up."

"Ouch. Damn she's a real bitch."

"Another term picked up from the humans?"

"Oh, yeah. It- well, it means..."

"No need. Having it used as a reference for the Seawitch is enough context for me."

"Got'cha." Jono looked to see Yugi quite a ways ahead, spinning playfully in the water. "Damn, he's gone back to being that adorable little kid again."

"It pained me to see him in such turmoil. Part of the reason for my sour mood." Atemu then called out to Yugi. "Don't get too far ahead, you don't know these waters!"

"M'kay!" Yugi called back, swimming swiftly back to Atemu's side. The merman laughed in merriment at the beautiful shining joy in the amethyst eyes of his fellow merman. He took Yugi's hand, making the little one blush a bit shyly. 'Oh, Gods, he's even more adorable than I remembered!' Atemu thought, a blush darkening his cheeks as well. Jono cleared his throat and the two of them looked where he was pointing. They were home. The capital city of Oceania: Atlantis.


End file.
